What Gives Me Hope

What gives me hope is being able to continually witness visionary acts of great courage, compassion and determination as we create together a different time, a different world, in which women and girls are no longer disrespected, dismissed, thrown to the street or kept indoors, held captive, tortured, raped, and murdered. I have hope that by our linking arms and hearts in leadership toward a whole new way of being, we are creating change.

Air - Our ideas

It gives me hope when I read the brilliant ideas and witness the depth of visionary thought that form our stories here, as we describe and work together toward a world in which here is no more war, in which the earth is being taken care of, in which everyone has access to medical care, in which we have ended poverty, in which women are leading the way. 

It gives me hope that we are undoing the treatment of women as “witches”, the notion that we are inferior to men, the notion that we have no right to choose our lives and live freely. It gives me hope when I see women moving into leadership in the governments of many countries with these ideas in mind, and with plans of how to make these things happen. It gives me hope when I read stories of what women have done in the past that had been hidden or credited to a man. It gives me hope when I read about communities that have existed in the past and those that exist still today in which the leadership of women is paramount, and in which respect for women is interwoven in the fabric of the community. It gives me hope when ideas promote that all people deserve respect and freedom.

It gives me hope when I hear women speak out loudly and without hesitation that we are not finished until all of the missing and murdered women have been found and those who have been killed are mourned with respect by the governments that have allowed this to happen. It gives me hope when I read from so many WorldPulse sisters, that we know a path forward and that we are building a strength of commitment through our discussions with each other, that will never again be lost.

Fire - Our Passion and Courage

I have hope from the courage and strength that I see through all of the women standing firm in creating the change. I have hope in the strength women face with medical conditions that has meant ostracism, in poverty that has meant hunger, in war that has meant loss of loved ones and loss of homes. I have hope in the courage and strength of my sisters standing up to prevailing laws, risking ridicule and physical danger to embolden their sisters.

I have new hope in the growing number of men who have the courage to stand with us and acknowledge that this violence against women and girls by men is real and must end. I have hope in the men who have the courage to come forward now in greater numbers to speak openly about what other men have done to them as well.

I have hope in the courage that my sisters have, to be blazing trails, to be purifying all of the denunciations and degradations piled onto us change makers, sisters with fiery responses, with heated arguments, transforming old and harmful rules with new ways of thinking.

Water - Our Hearts

I have hope in the ability of women to feel without shame, to cry openly at what we have experienced in our lives, in what we are discovering in each others’, in this global tragedy called patriarchy, and in this ruination of our beloved planet. I have hope in the women who reach out and give a strong hand with a loving heart to others. I have such hope in all I read in WorldPulse of my sisters choosing always to lead from their hearts and heads into the most difficult situations, to make sure no one is left behind. It gives me hope when I read that a sister has extended generosity of time and material, to see another sister be able to shine. It gives me hope to witness my WorldPulse sisters celebrate their work, and changes they have made, and survival of themselves and other women and girls, with such joy. It gives me hope that we have held onto our dreams of what is possible, and trusted our hearts that we have the strength to face it all and make change happen.

Earth - Our Mother

I have hope in how we form plans that are grounded in reality and possibility. I have hope in our challenging the global economy being based on money that rests in the hands of so very few. I have hope in what my WorldPulse sisters are doing in attending to the basics, to the building blocks, to girls attending school, to women having viable businesses, to freedom from being held captive in homes, in prostitution, in forced marriages, in menstrual huts, in widows’ huts, in “traditions” that do not honour women. I have hope in that we know, that peace is possible, and that it is realistic and necessary to find ways to end war, and to take care of the earth. I have hope in all of the ways that we are working to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, our planet and each other.

Ether - the Upper Regions of Air beyond the Clouds

What gives me hope is that we are raising our voices together now in numbers never experienced before, with a transformational level of determination, belief in our purpose, and trust not only in our ability to create this change, but also in our right to live freely. I have hope that by our linking our thoughts, and arms, and hearts in leadership toward a whole new way of being, we are ensuring that this happens, and that it happens globally. I have hope in the power of what we are manifesting in WorldPulse.